How Funny
by FaithfulGold
Summary: It's funny how I remember the both of you when we were children. Although, many things have changed since then, it's funny how we really didn't change at all... AU Flint/OC/Volkner
1. Chapter 1

Electric types are better!"

"No, Fire types are way better!"

"Electric!"

"Fire!"

"Electric!"

"Fire!"

I giggled as I watched my two best friends fight over which type of Pokemon element was better. It was fun watching them argue passionately about the things they liked, and I didn't want to intervene their heated debate over Pokemon. The image before me was a sight to see... Pikachu was sitting on top of the blonde boy's head, while Chimchar was sitting on the red Afro boy's left shoulder. Both were glaring at one another while both boys kept bickering about special types again. All I could do was smile as I continued to stare at their passion for Pokemon. When I finally stopped giggling, and saw that the sun was beginning to set into a brilliant orange across the beach that we were on, I finally decided that their arguing was enough for one day. I slowly got up from my comfortable spot on the sand and walked up to the two older boys in front of me. The boys didn't even notice me as I got closer to them. When I was finally right next to both of the bickering boys, I did the unexpected. I took both my hands, grabbed one of each of the two boy's ears, and pulled really hard to get their attention.

"Ouch!" said the blonde boy to my left.

"Hey! What was that for, Gloria?!" shouted the red Afro boy to my right. I just smiled to the both of them and pointed my finger to the setting sun over the beach that was slowly going down. The two ten year old boys looked in the direction that I was pointing, and looked back at me with sheepish shy grins.

"Hehe...sorry, Gloria. We lost track of time arguing, and didn't have time to play with you...again." said the blonde boy as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head with his right hand. His Pikachu jumped down from his perch on the boy's head, and went over to me to climb up to my shoulder. Rubbing it's soft furry head on my neck, it gestured his apology as I patted his head to say that it was alright. The red headed boy, on the other hand, looked down and began to take a sudden interest in his shoes and the sand that surrounded it. He mumbled a soft, "Sorry," but kept looking down with a gloom of guilt in his aura. His Chimchar, like Pikachu, jumped off of the red headed boy's shoulder, and then climbed my body to my other shoulder and hugged my head as an apology. I patted both of the Pokemon's heads, smiled, then took the hands of both boys and led them off of the beach.

I giggled as I continued to drag the two sulking boys behind me. I really didn't mind that they were too caught up in arguing with each other since it was also entertainment for me. Finally getting to solid ground, and out of the sand, I turned to them and let go of their hands.

"Lets play again tomorrow, okay?" After I said that, I left both of my friends and skipped all the way home.

The next day, the three of us played on the beach again. The two Pokemon and I built small sand castles, while the two boys kept whispering about something behind my back. I decided to ignore them, knowing that sooner or later they would clue me in on their secret. While playing with the Pokemon I began to wonder how awesome it would be to have a Pokemon of my own. I'm eight years old so I still had two more years until I was allowed a Pokemon for training and going on a journey of my own. My two friends were ten, so they were already allowed a Pokemon, but they trained all day with them and decided to go on a journey later on. Without noticing it myself, I began to voice my thoughts in small mumbles, but loud enough for the boys to hear...

"I wonder when I'm going to get a Pokemon?" When the two boys heard this, they stopped whispering to themselves and looked toward my direction. Both boys got up from the sand they were sitting on and walked over to me. The red headed Afro boy slapped my back in a soft playful way. This catching me off guard, made me jump and fall back on the damp sand behind me. The blonde boy laughed at my reaction and helped me up. I didn't know what was happening, but both boys looked down at me with big grins...

"Don't worry, Gloria! Two years may seem long, but it'll fly by in no time! I'm sure that the Pokemon you'll get will be awesome!" the red headed Afro boy said cheerfully with a goofy grin.

"Yeah, Gloria! And when you do finally get your Pokemon, we'll all train and have fun together!" said the blonde with a cheeky grin. I just smiled back and nodded to the both of them.

"Thanks Flint, Volkner!" We continued to play after that, but little did I know what was going to happen after...

A few months passed after that day. Volkner, Flint, and I kept hanging out, like always, but something was changing between the two boys. It wasn't long until Flint decided to strengthen his bond with his Pokemon and went on a journey, and soon after Volkner followed in his footsteps and also left Sunnyshore City. They promised to come back in a years time to visit, but their promise could never be fulfilled... That same year, I moved to whole different region with my family with no way to contact the two boys. I've never seen them since...


	2. Chapter 2

Just a little side note before you read. Gloria was 8 in the previous chapter, while Volkner and Flint were both 10, making them for the rest of the story both 18 and 20..

I opened my eyes as I awoke from my dream. Tears were streaked across my cheeks as I noticed I was crying while asleep. It's been ten years since I had last seen those two goofballs. I smiled to myself as past memories flooded past me in flashes. Laying down on my bed for a little bit longer, I covered my right arm over my eyes. I didn't want to do anything today, but I knew sooner or later my Pokemon would come flooding into my room, under my mother's orders, to come and force me to start my day. Taking a quick peak at my simple light creamy green analog clock, I found it to be 8:30 in the morning, and pretty soon my room would be a chaotic Pokemon mess. I got out of the bed quickly and got dressed into my clothes. (without the hair bow, unless you want it) After hurriedly finishing my hygienic needs, I opened my front door to seem a cluster of my Pokemon, rushing toward my bedroom, reaching for my doorknob. As a result of opening the door before them, all of my Pokemon came crashing down on me as a heap on the floor.

"Geez guys! Even though mom tells you to come wake me up, it doesn't mean that all of you have to come at one time to do it!" I halfheartedly scolded as I got out of the Pokemon sandwich pile on the floor. Lightly chuckling I patted each and every one of them before making my way down stairs to go eat breakfast. My Pokemon (Blaziken, Larvitar, Lilligant, and Gardevoir) followed me into the kitchen as I sat down to eat. Mom didn't mind having my Pokemon over, but sometimes it really did get a little too crowded in the house. After shoving the last piece of the eggs and toast into my mouth, I thanked her for the food, put everything away, and led my Pokemon gang to the top of the hill where Professor Oak's lab was. The rest of my Pokemon were waiting for me at the field outside the lab. My Pokemon journey was on hold for the moment, and Professor Oak graciously agreed to house my Pokemon until my next journey. Empoleon, Dragonite, Staraptor, and Rapidash were waiting for me patiently as I came running towards them.

"Hey guys! *pant* Sorry *pant* for the wait!" I said cheerfully as I patted each of their heads. Today was a special day. Why, you ask? It's special because Ash was finally coming back after those few months that he's been away! I've been wanting to see how strong he's gotten since that time, and to be honest, he's like a little brother to me! It doesn't help that when he was younger, I used to babysit him while his mother was away for long periods of time.

"Ah, Gloria, there you are! I was wondering when you would be coming over! I thought you slept in and forgot about what day it was!" laughed Professor Oak. I chuckled as I responded to him.

"No way would I miss this Professor! Ash is like a little brother to me, so of course I would come early to meet him!" I smiled.

"That's good. Gary has already left to go see Ash at the outskirts of town. And speak of the devil, there he is!" Gary came walking up to us as his grandfather mentioned his name. He waved to the both of us and informed us that Ash would be coming to the lab very soon. After his explanation, the three of us went inside while my Pokemon stayed outside to enjoy the sun. About twenty minutes later, Ash came into the meeting room of the lab, and 1...2...3...

"SURPRISE!" Tracey, Professor Oak, Delia (Ash's Mom), Gary, Mr. Mime, and I yelled as paper firecrackers went off. Ash was surprised about the sudden outburst, but got over it eventually.

"Hey Ash! It's been so long since we've last met! Have you grown?" I asked as I smothered him in one of my famous bear hugs.

"Can't br...breathe...G..Glrrrrrr..."

"What was that?" I asked as I let go of Ash to look at his blue face. Pikachu, all the while, left Ash's shoulder before I hugged him and sweat dropped as he watched his friend struggle in my grasp. I just ignored the outburst of his yells as I picked Pikachu off the the floor and started cuddling him. I always had a soft spot for Pikachus, but I never knew why. I guess, it's probably because he reminds me of a certain blonde boy who fancied electric type Pokemon. While I was thinking, of course, Ash being Ash, soon challenged Gary into a Pokemon battle with his Pikachu against Gary's Electivire. The outcome of the battle was obvious; Gary won with his Electivire, and Ash finally realizing that the world is huge and full of strong trainers and Pokemon, and cockiness will not get him anywhere. So, of course, Ash being the peppy boy that he is, claimed that he was going to explore the Sinnoh Region...

"Wait, what?" I asked surprised.

"Haven't you been listening, Gloria? I'm going to the Sinnoh Region!" Ash exclaimed excitedly.

"Oh...How nice, Ash!" I pretended to be excited for him as he jumped up and down with adrenaline. The fake smile I had on was perfect to a T, but it was obvious to Professor Oak that my mood had suddenly changed. Later than night, the Professor sat me down in his office to talk.

"So, Gloria. If I remember correctly, you used to live in the Sinnoh Region, correct?"

"Yes, I have Professor. Is something wrong with me originating there?"

"No, not at all. It's just that... Well, it seems that you never like to talk about it, and so far, you have gone to every possible Region except for Sinnoh. Are you avoiding it by any chance?" I looked up startled that he actually caught on to my actions. Yes, so far I have gone to all of the Regions closest to me, and also to some that were way beyond. Sinnoh was by far one of the only Regions that I have never explored, and it seemed that the Professor caught on that I refused to go back...

"Well, I guess you could be saying that I'm avoiding it."

"And why is that, Gloria? It's your previous home, so why not go back to train there, and maybe reminisce old memories?"

*sigh* "That's the point Professor; I don't want to reminisce. It's not that I don't have friends there, it's just...well... I think that my friends have already moved on without me. They don't need a burden like me to come back and haunt them." I said rather sulkily. The Professor just sighed and told me to talk it over with my parents and to think it over. I just nodded to his advise and slowly walked back home with Larvitar as company. (The rest of the Pokemon are too big, so they had to stay at the lab.) The next morning, I woke up before my Pokemon came over, and discussed with my parents about last night's discussion with the Professor.

"I think it's a good idea, Gloria." my mother said cheerfully.

"I agree with her. Remember how you cried yourself to sleep every night after we left Sinnoh? Deep down in your heart, we know that you still miss that place, and besides... You never got to say goodbye to your friends, did you?" I shook my head 'no' as a response to my parents. I wasn't looking them in the eye the whole time the conversation took place, but when I finally did, I could see the pity in their eyes.

"Gloria, honey," said my mother soothingly, as she sat down next to me at the table and took both of my hands in hers, "I think it's time for another journey."

"That's right," my father said smoothly as he tapped my right shoulder with his large hand, "you're 18 years old now, and I believe it's time for you to move out of the house and find a nice place to live by yourself. Your brother moved out last year to the Hoenn Region, and he's really happy there with his friends. Why don't you think of this journey as home scouting. If you still like the Sinnoh Region you can move there, if you don't just come back and try a different Region, or buy a house in Kanto. How about that, is that good enough a plan?" I thought about my dad's plan carefully. It was true that I was meaning to leave the house soon, so why not just start now? I smiled and nodded to both of parents and agreed to the plans. After breakfast, I quickly left my house with Larvitar in my arms, and ran towards the Ketchum residence. Ash, Delia, and Professor Oak were already outside saying goodbye to Ash. Panting, I went over to Ash and gave him a hug before he left.

"Well, I'm off to the Sinnoh Region!" He shouted excitedly. I just smiled, took off his hat and tousled his hair.

"Hey! Gloria, I'm not a kid anymore!" Ash whined. Chuckling, I tousled it one last time before putting his hat back on.

"Ash, you'll always be a little kid to me." We just grinned at each other before he finally decided to turn and leave. But before he left, I just had to have a final say before it was too late.

"Hey, Ash! I'm going to the Sinnoh Region pretty soon, too. Keep a close eye out for me, and maybe we can meet up there, okay?" I smiled.

"Alright! When we do meet, Gloria, you and I are going to have a Pokemon battle! Just you wait, I'll get stronger!"

"I bet you will, Ash" and with that, Ash left the town once again with his buddy Pikachu. I sighed as I watched my "little brother" grow up right in front of my eyes.

'I guess I'll be seeing the three of you there, huh?' I smiled as I thought to myself looking up at the sky.

-  
*In the far distances of the Sinnoh Region*

_"She'll be coming soon, don't worry. We persuaded her to at least visit, so you guys better do something while she's there." _Said the whispers of a middle aged female voice.

"Thank you for giving us this chance, Mr. and Mrs. K."

_"Don't worry about it. She's been looking down for all these years, we think that you two will be the only ones to cheer her up!_ _Besides, she really misses her two best friends...But if you hurt her in any way, know that I'll be personally going down there, and it won't be pretty." _Threatened a middle aged male voice.

Chuckling, both of the two men in front of the tele-com screen reassured the middle aged couple that they would never hurt their daughter.

_"Then we leave it in your hands!"_ and with that the middle aged married couple blanked out of the screen, leaving the responsibilities of their daughter's happiness to the hands of the two 20 year old males.


	3. Chapter 3

Light blinded me as I walked out onto the platform of the huge cruise ship. I yawned while I tried to wipe the sleep off my eyes. In my arms, Larvitar began doing the same as he tried to stay awake for the coming day. Lazily walking to the railing of the ship, I stared down at the shimmering crystal water as we passed by at amazing speed. Larvitar stared at awe as the water passed, but later started squirming in my arms as he almost fell over from leaning too far out from my protective hold. Sheer terror could be seen in his eyes from the thought of almost being dropped into the deep ocean, so in response to his actions I stepped away from the railing and cooed soothing words to calm him down. Once he finally quit squirming around, I decided to get some breakfast before we would dock in the Sinnoh Region. Hand feeding the baby Larvitar, after finishing my own food, I could see the coast of the Sinnoh Region as we got closer and closer...

**"Attention passengers. We shall be docking in the Sinnoh Region in 30 minutes. Please make sure your personal items and family members are all accounted for and ready for docking. Thank you for riding with us!"** The captain's announcement rang throughout the ship with a loud screech. I sighed, knowing that the adventure would start once I stepped on to the docking platform. Before more time passed, I went back down into the ship to go get my packed travel bags in my room. Larvitar sat on my bed as I made sure all my Poke balls, food, and other provisions were packed safely in all of the right compartments, and that nothing was missing. I laughed to myself as I remembered that when I was younger in one of my journeys I actually did forget something important...

_"Man, the Hoenn Region... Do you think it's just like the Kanto Region, Jay?" I asked my older brother who was two years older than me. We were watching the water as we passed by at increasing speed on the cruise ship. The sun was beginning to set, and the orange and yellow hues could be seen reflected in our eyes as we watched the scene of the ocean pass by us._

"I don't know, Gloria. Are you scared?"

"Hmmm...? Why would I be scared?" I asked as I looked up to my older brother.

"Well, this is your first journey. You don't even have a Pokemon yet, so aren't you a little scared about what might happen next?" Yes, this was my first ever Pokemon journey, and I was 11 years old. Why start at such a late age? Well, after we moved to the Kanto Region Jay left to explore on a journey immediately and at that time I was only 9. By the time I was 10 my parents weren't sure that I should go on a journey by myself, so I had to wait until my brother came back to go on a journey with him.

"I guess I'm a little scared, but it'll be fine." I said as I smiled.

"Haha. Guess your a lot braver than I thought you were. So, did you bring everything I told you to bring? Pokedex, Poke balls, and other stuff packed safely away?" I checked my bag to check if I had everything Jay asked, but as I looked my Pokedex wasn't there! My eyes widened as I turned over every pouch in my bag and double checked my pockets...

"NO!" I shouted as I freaked out on leaving my Pokedex at home on the counter next to the front door...

I silently giggled to myself as I remembered how much I freaked that day. Eventually my parents were able to send my Pokedex through the mail, but it still freaked me out on how my journey would be after that. Of course, that day I learned a valuable lesson on checking things twice before starting a journey.

**"Passengers, we have arrived at the Sinnoh Region docking point. Please don't forget all personal belongings, and to leave the ship in an orderly fashion. Thank you, again, for riding with us!" **I looked out of my window to see that we had finally reach land. I slipped my bags onto my shoulders and carried Larvitar out of the room and onto the deck of the ship as I waited to get off. It took 15 minutes to fully get off the ship with all of its passengers. Once on land, I noticed a group of girls swarming around tightly packed near the middle of the walking path of the dock. I frowned as I continued to stare at the girls. Larvitar and I just looked at each other and shrugged, not wanting to know what was happening at all.

'Not my problem.' I thought to myself as I tried to navigate myself through the thick crowd of girls.

"Excuse me... Ouch!...Hey, don't shove!...Could you please move?...Excuse me..." When I finally made it through the sea of girls, I was breathing harder than usual, while Larvitar was shuddering at all the physical contact we just made with all those people. I just laughed it off, but it soon came to an abrupt stop as I saw the stampede of young and old females alike stomping their way toward where the other group of girls were behind me. Before I could react, I was swept away by the sea of females as they shouted for autographs and pictures. They kept on pushing and shoving me until I fell into a little clearing where the girls circled around two young males who looked annoyed and unsure with what to do with their predicament. I landed on my back making sure that Larvitar did not get hurt during the fall, but my back sure paid a price for it instead.

"Hey, are you okay miss?" said a smooth husky voice right above me. I groaned as I looked up to see a blinding flash of blonde hair. Looking at the male he looked so familiar...

"I-I'm fine." I said as he helped me back up.

"Yo, what's wrong?" said a higher, yet, still deep male voice as he pushed his way next to the blonde. This male's head was red shaped into an Afro. Without knowing, I giggled at his appearance since it reminded me so much of my friend in the past. Both males looked at me with questioning glances, but I just ignored them, thanked them for helping me, and tried to get out of the crowd of girls, but... the girls had tightened the wall and were all glaring at me...

"Umm...is something wrong? Why is everyone glaring at me?" I asked questioningly out loud without thinking.

"The problem is you!" yelled one of the girls.

"What? What did I do?" I asked confused.

"Don't get close to our guys!...Yeah, they don't deserve trash like you!...A guy from the Elite Four doesn't need to talk to weakling like you!...Stop getting closer to the gym leader!" All the girls started shouted in all different directions. Although, this was a messy situation, I just sighed ignored all the girls and turned to the only two guys behind me.

?'s POV

"Sorry for making your fan girls angry, but I really need to get going." Gloria said in her sweet voice that I haven't heard in ten years. She began taking out a Poke ball from her belt, but before she could release her Pokemon I touched her hand lightly with mine to stop her. She looked at me confused as she stared into my eyes.

"Don't tell me you already forgot about me, Gloria." I whispered into her ear. She blushed cutely from the sudden contact and started stuttering.

"W-What?"

"Hey, don't forget about me!" said Flint as he draped an arm around her shoulders as she looked from me to Flint and back.

"No way...is it really you?" she said as tears threatened to fall from her eyes. We both nodded as she embraced both me and Flint into a gigantic one armed bear hug.(she was still holding Larvitar) We hugged her back while we ignored all the death stares from the other females.

"Why...How did you know?"

"Your mom and dad called us before you got here. They wanted the both of us to pick you up and to make sure that you got here safely!" I smiled to her. "Umm...Gloria," I said while looking at my surroundings of angry girls," you might want to release that Pokemon you had, now." She looked around once before nodding and releasing her...Dragonite! She hopped on to its back while Flint and I just stared at her in awe, and the girls were knocked down by the sudden appearance of the Pokemon.

"Are you coming or not?!" she yelled frantically as the girls started getting back up. I jumped on behind Gloria, grabbing her waist, as Flint held on to Dragonit's feet as we flew higher into the sky. Gloria giggled as she felt the wind in her hair and headed off toward a destination unknown.

"It's nice to see you again, Gloria." I whispered in her ear. She smiled as she turned back to look at my face.

"It's nice to be back, Volkner."


	4. Chapter 4

The breeze blew through Gloria's long brown hair as it swept past her, caressing her cheeks as it went by. Gloria was relaxing on the beach, closing her eyes to the feel the sun soak into her skin as the last rays of the sun set for the day. A sigh of content was exhaled through that small pretty mouth of her's as she reminisced the old memories she had at that same beach...

* 10 Years Ago*  
Gloria was walking down through the beach, her feet barefoot as she walked through the outskirts of the damp sand. Her mind was carefree, not thinking about any of the summer homework she would have to finish when she went back home for the day. Yes, this was peace: the ocean, quiet, and herself without anyone to bother her...

"GLORIA!"  
'Well, at least it was peaceful...' Gloria thought before turning herself around to see who was calling to her... Flint came dashing to where Gloria was currently standing at the beach. When he was finally able to be beside her, he slumped down onto the sand, panting and wheezing as if he just ran a marathon. Gloria patiently waited for Flint to regain his breath with a small smile on her lips.

"Man, Gloria...*pant*...you really...*pant*... need to be...*wheeze*...somewhere I can... *pant*...find you..." Flint rasped as he gulped in huge breaths of air. Gloria just giggled as she saw her friend struggle to find a breather. Don't get her wrong, Gloria loved Flint dearly as a friend, but the boy should have already known that Gloria would be at the beach...it was her most favorite place in the world...

"Well, why didn't you check the beach first? You know I love it here!" Gloria said in jocular manner, giving Flint a little playful nudge on the shoulder in the process. Flint just looked up at Gloria while she did this and playfully scowled.

"Well, maybe you should just make it easier for me next time and just stay in one place for the whole day! I searched everywhere for you! The cafe, the playground, your house..." Flint counted out the places he searched for her with his fingers for added affect, trying to make Gloria feel bad for making him run around the whole day. Gloria in turn just giggled at Flint as he made an effort to stay angry at her, but she knew that Flint could never stay angry at her for too long, heck, the could never get angry at her!

"Does it really matter anymore Flint? I mean, your here now with me."

"Hmmf... whatever..." Flint pouted as he knew that Gloria was going to win any argument that he would come up with. Gloria just ended up giggling again as she saw Flint's lower lip pucker out a little as he tried to hide the signs that he was actually pouting before the younger girl. Sometimes, he didn't know who was older, the 2 years younger Gloria or himself by the way he acted around her.

"If your done pouting Flint, will you tell me what was so urgent that you had to search for me?" Gloria asked in her sweet innocent voice.

"Oh yeah! I'm finally getting my first Pokemon, Gloria! I'm getting it tomorrow, and I was just wondering if you would like to come with me to Pokemon Center to meet with the Professor." with an embarrassed flushed face, Flint asked Gloria in a very cute way, although, Gloria was too young to understand that Flint liked her in the romantic way back then.

"Okay! I'd love to go with you, Flint! I can't wait to meet your new Pokemon!" Gloria almost shouted with excitement, bouncing up and down with the great and joyous news of Flint finally getting his first Pokemon.

"Alrighty then! I'll see you at the Pokemon Center at 8 o'clock then!" Flint exclaimed, happy that Gloria agreed to meet scary Professor Rowan with him the next day. As they parted their separate ways to get home, Flint couldn't help but to have a spring in his step as he leisurely -yet excitedly- jogged back home, while Gloria couldn't help but to hum happily as she couldn't wait to tell her parents about the exciting news about her best friend.

-  
The next morning, Gloria prepared for the day as she usually did, but with an extra spring to her steps. She combed her shoulder length hair, and then put it into a neat little side braid. She wore her usual cute knee length sky blue sundress with sandals, went downstairs to have breakfast and left in a nice leisurely pace to the Pokemon Center. Enjoying the nice summer breeze that the season provided, she closed her eyes, but of course, walking blindly has its consequences. As Gloria leisurely walked down the sidewalk with her eyes closed, she was not able to notice the frantic boy coming out of the alley way next to her holding his hurt Pikachu.

*BANG*  
Both the boy and the girl were knocked down onto the concrete sidewalk in an instant as the force was too great for the both of them. Not knowing what happened, Gloria slowly got up while rubbing her sore backside. Finally noticing the boy that ran into her, Gloria frantically went over and looked over the unconscious boy to make sure that he was not hurt. In a little while, as Gloria was checking to see if he was hurt, the boy started to groan and began to rub his hurting head.

"Are you alright? You didn't hurt your head too badly did you?" Gloria asked with genuine concern. The boy, still laying down, blinked a few times before being able to register the words Gloria had just said. He just nodded his head to indicate that he wasn't too injured, but then finally remember his injured friend in his arms. Gloria didn't notice the Pikachu since the boy was covering it inside his arms with little room to see what he was holding. Remembering what he was doing before he was knocked over, he quickly scrambled to his feet, said a quick sorry to the girl, and dashed toward the Pokemon Center, leaving a very confused Gloria behind since she wasn't able to see the tiny Pikachu in the boy's arms.

Arriving at the Pokemon Center, Gloria noticed that she was several minutes early from the designated time; Flint wasn't anywhere in the Pokemon Center, and the Professor that was supposed to meet them were not there either. Gloria decided to wait in one of the comfy chairs for her friend, but as her eyes roamed around the neat waiting room, she spotted the boy that she had run into earlier. As curious as she was, Gloria slowly got up from her seat and made her way to the boy across the room.

"Hi there!" Gloria said with happy grin. The boy just looked at her with a confused expression as she greeted him. Noticing the look, Gloria quickly explained that she was the girl that the boy had run into earlier that morning. Finally remembering who she was, the boy scratched his head out of pure embarrassment, and began to apologize again for running into her earlier.  
"It's no biggie. I'm tougher than I look, so no harm done." Gloria said with a smile. "Why were you such a hurry anyway? I didn't hurt you when you fell, did I?" The boy just shook his head to indicate a 'no'.

"Not really. I'm fine overall. I was worried about my friend, so that's why I was in such a big hurry."

"Oh, no! Is your friend okay? Who is it?" but right as the boy was about to answer the girl, Nurse Joy came out of the operation room with a smile, and approached the little boy and girl.

"Your Pikachu's alright now! He was heavily exhausted from his previous battle with a couple of scratches here and there, but overall your friend will be fine. Just let him stay overnight, and he'll be in top shape in the morning!" Nurse Joy left right after that, leaving the boy and girl by themselves once again. The boy by Gloria's side looked relieved as he received the good news from Nurse Joy. He let go of a great breath that he didn't know that he was holding as Nurse Joy was telling him the news. Gloria just looked up to him and beamed a smile at him.

"That's great! Your friend is all better now; I'm so happy for you!" The boy just looked startled at the girl for a moment, wondering why she was so happy for a complete stranger, but then just smiled a small smile back to the girl and gave a small nod. He finally noticed the girl's appearance, and couldn't help but almost blush at how cute she was. The girl's face was round and a little chubby, like a little apple, but it was good shape for her. Her eye's were brown, but they shone like stars on a clear night sky, and her braided hair framed her face perfectly. Overall, this was one of the cutest girls he'd ever seen, even if she looked a couple years younger than him. As for Gloria, she also finally noticed the appearance of the slightly older boy she just met. His eyes were the brightest ocean blue she had ever seen, and his hair was a flawless bright blond color. His features were also very handsome, and Gloria couldn't help but to almost blush in the presence of this boy. There was an awkward silence after that, as both the children did not know what to say to the other, since they were too conscious of the others presence; well, until a certain red head noisily and oblivious to the mood of the two children came up to the little.

"Your here, Gloria!" Flint yelled as he came jogging over to the two other children. Gloria just smiled to Flint with relief, since she was being heavily affected by the different aura surrounding her and the other boy.  
"Yeah, I've been here for a while now Flint. I came, just like you asked!" Gloria happily said. Flint just laughed and ruffled her hair with his left hand, showing his affection for the girl. The blond boy just looked over at exchange of gestures with a blank face. Flint was the first to notice the boys presence, and looked at the boy curiously.

"Who's this Gloria, a new friend?"

"Hmmm? Oh! Yeah, I guess.. I ran into him on the way here." Gloria giggled at the last sentence, since she literally did run into the older blond.

"Mind introducing us then?" Flint asked with a hint of challenge in his voice. He didn't like it when other boys just started hanging out with little Gloria without his permission.

"Ummm...I guess... Flint this is...ummm..." the little girl was perplexed since she didn't even know the other boys name! How embarrassing this was...

"Volkner. My name is Volkner." said the blond, saving the little girl from complete embarrassment.

"Hmf. Well, nice to meet you Volkner. My name's Flint." The two boys nodded to each other in greeting, but if you looked closely you could see tiny lightening bolt pass through both of the boys' eyes, almost as if they knew they were to be rivals from the very beginning. Gloria, oblivious to her surroundings just smiled at the two boy with a carefree face.

"And I'm Gloria!" Gloria said in a chipper tone, breaking the silent staring contest that the two boys were having. Flint just looked at her like she was crazy, since she was already supposed to know the boy, while Volkner just looked at her and gave her a little nod.

"Wait, Gloria. Doesn't this guy already know your name?" Flint asked with confusion laced in his voice.

"No, not really. Like I said, we just ran into each other earlier this morning, and we just met again a couple of minutes of ago!" Flint could not believe what he was hearing and just smacked his head for Gloria's pure innocence. She was going to be the death of him if she kept acting like this, especially to complete strangers! Gloria just kept on smiling without knowing what she did wrong, while Volkner just watched and smiled at the small exchange of the two other children.

*sigh* "Nevermind..." Flint sighed. Then, turning toward Vokner, "Sorry, but we have to go now. I've got a meeting with Professor Rowan, and I can't be late. Come on Gloria, we have to go." Flint gave one last hard stare at Volkner, but then gave him a small grin to show that he wasn't trying to be hostile to the boy before turning and leaving. Gloria stayed where she was for a few seconds longer before turning towards the older blond.

"It was nice meeting you Vokner, and I'm glad that your friend is all better! I hope we meet again, and maybe we can hang out sometime!" she said with a cheery smile before running off to catch up with her red headed friend. Volkner just watched as she scampered toward her friend, a small smile forming on his face before he turned around and headed toward the room Pikachu was in.

"Maybe.." he whispered to himself, knowing that no one had heard him.

*end of flashback*

"Hey Gloria, what are you doing here for?" Flint asked, startling the younger girl. Gloria turned around to meet the cheeky grin of one of her best friends.

"I'm reminiscing old memories, Flint. It's been a while since I've last been on this beach..." Gloria said with small hint of sadness in her voice.

"Yeah, I know what you mean... We had a lot fun memories here didn't we?"

"Yeah... Hey, do you remember the day when you invited me to go with you to the Pokemon Center to get your first Pokemon from Professor Rowan?"

"Oh yeah! Yeah, I definitely remember that day. Professor Rowan scared the pants out of me, and I remember how much I was trembling by just looking into his eyes." Gloria laughed, saying that she did remember...

"But, there was something else that happened that day... Don't you remember Flint?"

"Huh?" Flint asked with confusion evident in his face. Gloria just took that as a 'no' and just shook it off.

"Nevermind. I'll just keep the memory for myself..." she whispered to herself, oblivious to the extra presence behind the two of them, as they watched the sun go down together.

'I guess everything is still the same...' Volkner thought, as he watched his rival/bestfriend catch up with Gloria, his other bestfriend, on old memories of their childhood.


End file.
